


Reawakening the Shadows | Original Story

by thislittlemermaid6



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2017-10-20
Packaged: 2018-12-23 11:52:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11989248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thislittlemermaid6/pseuds/thislittlemermaid6
Summary: Charlotte "Charlie" Mathers happens to always be the new girl over and over because of her father. When they move to Spring Lake, New Jersey, something seems different than normal. When she meets Ryder, Elyse and Henry, she discovers something...weird about her and who she was...before she was Charlie.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I will post every Friday, and make sure to check out my Wattpad here: 
> 
> https://www.wattpad.com/story/121690032-reawakening-the-shadows-original-story

_September 12th, 1940_

_On the horizon, the city of New York can be seen. Misting the sky above Hercules Powder Factory in New Jersey, is smoke and it’s billowing high into the sky. The fire department hasn’t gotten to the scene yet, but all that is seen is a boy and a girl standing outside._

_“Blanche, you shouldn’t go in there.” Elias exclaims, following the girl named Blanche to the entrance of the factory._

_“Elias, I have to, or else all of those people are going to die in that fire. Because of me and my stupidity.” she explains, her hands singeing on the hot metal of the factory door._

_“You know what will happen if you die. We never know when we could find each other again.”_

_She walks over to the boy Elias and places her hands on his face gently. “Hey, I’ll be fine. When am I not?” she reassures him._

_He pauses and then says, “Okay you have me there. Hey Blanche?”_

_“Yes Elias?” she asks._

_“I love you. Okay?”_

_“I love you too. Always.” she responds._

_She holds his hand for the last time before jumping into the thick of the fire. One by one, workers are ushered out, but some have not been brought out. Elias waits until every one of the workers exits the scene before asking one of Blanche’s closest friends Molly, “Where is she?”_

**“** _She had to end the fire somehow. Staying in there was her choice.” He quickly turns away from Molly and sprints to the door of the burning building. “Elias stop! You’re going to die in there!” she exclaims, her voice going up an octave._

_“I’ll die every day for her if I had to. As long as I get to see her again, everything will be fine.” he yells to her before jumping into the fire, never to be seen again._

_The small crowd of people, Molly included, watch as the factory burns, her two best friends stuck inside. She sheds tears that cloud her vision, but she swore that she saw Elias rise from the rubble of the burned down factory. When she wipes her eyes, no one was there, just smoke and rubble that cover her best friend’s now dead body._

_Hours later, after all of the police and firefighters have left, Molly, swaddled in a blanket, climbs over the rubble of her former work. Knowing that her best friend’s body was already with the coroner because she had just seen it, she struggles over the cinders of the brick and rock, over to the spot where Blanche’s body was recovered. She spots the familiar shiney metal that Blanche always wore around her neck, and slips it in the waistband of her dress, before rushing back to her home on the seaside._

_She looks back on the rubble with nostalgia, sheds a few tears, before being on her way._

 


	2. Chapter One

_That dream was so vivid._ I think to myself as I jolt awake, my head resting on the door of my dad’s car that was currently packed to the brim with all of our junk.

Moving to a new house isn’t the easiest thing in the world. Especially when you’ve done it so many times, you lose count. Basically, I’ve been in and lived in all of the states at least once and maybe even more than once if my dad got a job there. I never got a real chance to make friends, let alone get to know people. It was always: live at a rented house for a few months, then move when my dad needed to move on from his job. I’ve learned not to question it a lot of the time because I have accepted the ultimate fate that this _is_ my life now. But it at least gets me to see more of the country that I never thought I would.

We stop in front of the house, which looks older than I expected. The moving van behind us stops too and the men who helped pack the last house, unpack all of the boxes in the back of the truck.

 _This house is creepy,_ I think as I am climbing the stairs to my new room, a box of my valuables in my hands. The house is old, like it was built in the 40’s, the stairs creak as my feet tread up them. My dad said to choose any room that I want on the way here, so I choose the one that was less creepy and more prettier than the others. The room faces the back of the house, towards the beach, which was barren, abnormal for the time of day and year that we are in.

Moving to a new town is never easy, but when you move at least five times or more in your lifetime, it becomes easier. Living with my dad, the history research professor, is a constant state of movement, never ending.

This time, it’s a small waterside town in New Jersey, a place called Spring Lake. It’s a place where you can walk right onto the beach from your backyard, and walk to anywhere within the city limits.

I open the door to my room, the door swinging open and hitting the wall behind it with a thud, and I wince at the loud bang that it made, hoping there was no damage done to the wall. After checking that there wasn’t, I place my box of things on the old wooden dresser that was already in the room. I take most of the trinkets out of their bubble wrap protectant and place them gently on the dresser, arranging them so they could be moved again for the next time we leave, because I know that inevitably, we are going to leave this place, one way, or another. I take a look around my room and notice something covered in a cloth, but I decide to leave it for alone for now, deciding to lap down on my bed.

Hours later I lay on my musty new bed, almost asleep, when there is a knock at my door, and it creaks open, to reveal my father. “I didn’t know what you wanted to eat for dinner, so I just went with pizza. I hope that’s alright.” he says to me. “There’s some downstairs if you want any.”

“I’ll be down there in a few minutes.” I respond, giving my dad a smile.

“Welcome to your new home.” he says cheerfully after a few moments of silence.

“Thanks Dad.” I say, and he exits the doorway.

I take one last look around my room and see again the object covered in a cloth, and it intrigues me. But as I am taking a few step towards it to see what’s underneath, my stomach growls, interrupting me. Backing away slowly, I exit the room and bound my way down the creaky steps.

After gorging myself on pizza until I was beyond full, with my dad, I excuse myself from the counter and grab some of my boxes that were brought in so I can unpack them. After taking a few trips up and down the old steps, I finally have most of my things unpacked, my closet filled with my tee shirts and nice shirts, my dresser filled with my jeans and other things, and my bookshelf filled with my favorite novels of all time.

I stop when my arms are sore from picking up the rest of my books and I settle myself down on the bed in relief. An uneasy feeling, more like crippling fear, the feeling like you know someone is watching you but you’re afraid to look up, settles in my stomach and my breaths quicken. I put my arm over my eyes to hide myself away and the feeling goes away when I do this after a little while. I peek behind my arm in confirmation, then I wearily sit up.

My eyes zero in on the covered up piece of furniture, and I notice that the fabric covering it is swaying at the bottom, as if someone had brushed it with their leg, or a breeze grazed it. Curiosity fills my mind, and I swing my legs over the right side of my bed and head over to face the sheet. I watch it carefully, making sure it doesn’t move in my sights.

It doesn’t. I continue to watch it until there is a knock on my door.

“Come in.” I say quietly, making my way towards the door.

“Charlie it’s me, I just wanted to say goodnight.” my dad’s voice vibrates through the door.

I open the door and give him a hug before saying, “Good night.”

He pats me on the head and before going down the hall into his room. I quietly shut the door and sigh, flopping down on my bed. I have no idea why I’m being so paranoid. Sure this house seems old, but there is no _actual_ way that it’s haunted. It’s just new house and new town jitters, right?

I change into a pair of pajama pants and a tank top that I find in one of my boxes, before finding the box that said _Bedding_ and take out my sheets, pillows and blankets, throwing them all on top of the mattress. Deciding to unpack everything else tomorrow, I throw back the top two covers and crawl underneath them, snuggling into their warmth. I turn off the lamp on the side table and plug in my phone besides me, before turning over and shutting my eyes, engulfing myself in the dark. The initial uneasiness leaves me as I am brought into the world of sleep.

********************************************

_June 21st, 1920_

 

_“Ophelia, where are you going?” the older gentleman asks the nineteen year old girl that is his daughter._

_“I’m just going out with Agnes tonight, Father. There’s a new movie out that we want to see.” she lied. “I’ll be back later, I promise.”_

_Her father acknowledges this, and he goes back to his paper, taking a drag of his cigar. She heads out of the house with a bag in her hands, and saunters over to Agnes’ house next door. She knocks on the door, and Agnes’ mother answers. “Hi, are you here to see Agnes?” she asks._

_“Yes mam.” Ophelia responds._

_“I’ll go get her. You can wait in the parlor.” her mother responds, and leads Ophelia to the parlor._

_A few minutes pass and Agnes emerges into the room. “Are you ready to go?”_

_“Absolutely!” Ophelia exclaims. They both entangle their arms and say a quick goodbye to Agnes’ mother before leaving._

_They both take a cab to a dance club, the sign read_ Nifty’s _and change in the stalls of the bathroom. Ophelia comes out in her black, shiny short dress, and a crystal studded headband surrounding her forehead. As she fixes her hair in the mirror of the bathroom, Agnes comes out in a more skimpier dress, and quickly fixes her hair._

_“Ready?” Agnes asks._

_“Ready.” Ophelia confirms with a nod. They leave the bathroom as soon as another girl enters. When they both enter the dance room, Ophelia gasps in awe. The ballroom had enormous glimmering chandeliers and the room was huge. Agnes pulls her towards the corner of the room and starts to talk to some of her friends that she finds along the way._

_Ophelia pulls away from her friend and goes to get them glasses of whiskey, at a table in the middle of the room. When she gets the glasses full of alcohol, she brings them back to her friends, and takes casual sips of the whiskey, cringing in disgust at the taste._

_“Ophelia, that boy’s looking at you.” Agnes informs her._

_“What boy?” she asks confused._

_“The boy with the hat that’s looking right at you. Take a look over there.” Agnes points her chin in his direction._

_Ophelia takes a slight look around and finds the boy that Agnes was talking about. She gives him a smile before turning back to her friend. “He is good looking.” she says to her friend._

_“And he’s coming right over here. Good luck.” Agnes says._

_“Don’t leave me-” Ophelia starts but her best friend had already taken off in another direction. “Alone.” she says to herself._

_The mysterious boy comes towards her and approaches with his friend. “Hi.” he says._

_“Hello.” Ophelia responds shyly._

_“Ms. I would like to introduce James Edward.” his friend introduces._

_“Nice to make your acquaintance. I am Ophelia Ramone.” she responds._

_She holds out her hand for him to shake, and when their skins touch, it was like the world exploded for the two of them._

**************************************************

The next thing that I remember is the sun burning my eyes wide open. I yawn, and I clear my eyes of sleep and I rub them with my hands. I sit up in my bed for a few moment and stretch my arms in the air, before throwing back the covers and swing my legs onto the floor, and my bare feet hit the semi-new carpet. I stretch my body lazily, before climbing down the creaky carpet-clad stairs. I go into the kitchen to find it empty. On the counter, I pick up a few twenties and a note that says: _I had to go into work a bit earlier than expected. Here’s some money for breakfast. There’s a diner down the street, feel free to get whatever you want there. Love, Dad._

Placing the note back onto the counter, I take the twenties and head back upstairs to get dressed. I find a long sleeved shirt and jean shorts in a random box in my room, and place the twenty dollar bills in my wallet, before placing it in a bag, and leave my room.

Once I am out on the street, I look both way to get a sense of where I am going. I walk to the right, making a mental note that there were more cars going that way. About ten minutes of walking down the street, I reach the entrance of the parking lot of the small diner, which was empty. I walk across the vacant lot and pull open the door, which sounds a bell. The diner is a classic 50’s style.

“Pick anywhere you like sweetheart.” the older lady, who’s name tag said _Caroline_ , told me from behind the counter. I give her a smile and a nod, and take one of the stools at the counter.

Caroline places a menu in front of me, and I mutter, “Thank you.”

“Are you new around here?” she asks nicely. “Not to be rude, but I’ve just never seen you here before, and I’ve basically seen everyone in town.”

“It’s fine.” I pause. “And yeah, my dad and I just moved into the house down the street.” I respond. “I’m Charlie by the way.”

“Nice to meet you dear.” she pauses, “Ah, old Molly’s house.”

“Molly?” I ask, the name sounding familiar to me.

“She was the previous owner of your house, until she moved down to a retirement home in Florida, I think.” she pauses, pulling a pad and pen from her apron. “But anywho, what can I get you hun?”

I take a quick glance before ordering a cheese and broccoli omelet and a cup of coffee. As I wait, I take in the sights of the diner, and a few moments later, a cup of coffee is placed before me by Caroline. “Thank you.” I tell her. She nods and I take a sip of the scalding hot coffee after putting a few sugars in it. As I look down at the counter behind me, the bell above the diner’s front door rings. I don’t really get a chance because my food is placed down in front of me.

“Hey hun.” Caroline says to the person who just entered.

“Hey Grams. What’s on the menu today?” the voice asks.

“Anything you want dear.” she responds to the male voice. There is silence, so I assume the boy nodded.

I feel a shadow pass over me as the boy goes to sit down a few seats away from me at the counter. I take a glance through my long red hair, and notice that he is a few seats away from me, studying the menu. Something about him seems slightly familiar, but I know that I’ve never met this kid before.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Chapter Two

As if he can sense that I am staring, his head starts to move, so I turn my head quickly and continue eat. I feel his eyes bore into my body for the remainder of my meal, and when I finish, I push my plate away from me. “Hey Caroline, could I get the check please?” I ask her as she passes by.

  
“Sure dear, just give me a minute.” she responds sweetly, and my eyes follow her as she goes to the register. She comes back a few minutes later with the check and sets it down in front of me.

  
“Thanks.” I respond quietly with a smile.

  
Caroline walks away from me and over to the boy who seemed to still be staring at me, and I look down at the check, before placing a twenty and some change in it from my wallet. I slide the check holder away from me and get up from the counter, and I give a small wave back to Caroline before opening the door with a jingle, leaving the diner completely.

  
I walk straight back to the house and go up to my room to unpack a lot of the boxes that are cluttering around my room. I start with the boxes that still have a lot of my clothes in them, and place them in the drawers that I left open last night before I went to bed. I eventually find my box with all of my clothes that I need to hang up, including the hangers as well, and start to place all of the things that I need on them.

  
The doorbell rings as soon as I open my closet, and I put down the stack of clothes that I need to hang up, down on my bed. I rush down the stairs as the doorbell rings the second time, and I almost slide to the door with my socks on. I swing the door open to find a women standing in front of me, with a container in hand.

  
“Hello dear, I’m Wendy Hart, I live across the street with my son and daughter.” the woman, says to me.

  
“Hi Wendy, I’m Charlie, Charlie Mathers. I live here with my dad but he isn’t here right now, he’s at work.” I introduce. “Is there something I can help you with?”

  
“I just came to introduce myself to you since you guys are new. I also made these brownies as a welcome gift.” she says, handing me the container.

  
“Oh, thank you! That’s sweet.” I exclaim with no pun intended, taking the brownies out of her hands. “I’ll tell my dad that you stopped by and maybe we can have a dinner all together, or something along those lines.” I suggest.

  
“That would be lovely dear.” she says happily. There is a pause before she says, “Well, I’ll let you get back to your day. I bet there’s a lot of unpacking to do. I’ll see you around dear!”

  
“See you!” I say as she walks down the front porch steps. As she is walking across the street, I call out to her, “Oh, and thank you for the brownies!” before shutting the door. I go into the kitchen and put the brownies on the table, not before opening the container and inhaling one of them, before going back up into my room.

  
Once all of the clothes are away in the cabinet, closet and drawers, I open the old lace curtains that came with the house, letting the bright mid morning light come in. I watch the people walk their dogs on the sand outside of my window. I find a box of mine that’s labeled Decorations, and I open them to find a lot of my wall art and posters from my past houses.

  
I hang the posters up with some of the sticky tack that I find in the bottom of the box, giving my room a more homey type look. I shove whatever boxes that I unpacked on the top shelf in my closet, clearing half of the room in the process.

  
Deciding that I am done with my room for now, I go downstairs and unpack some of the kitchen for my dad, so that he didn’t have a lot to do when he got home from work. As I blast some music to give me motivation, I put plates, bowls and cups in the cabinets above the oven, and the forks, knives, spoons, and other kitchen utensils in different drawers that were by the sink. I find the already prepackaged food, including the canned food, that we bought before the move, and put them in other cabinets and the pantry, but not before trying them all to see if they were still good and not expired.  
After being this productive, I find myself outside on the back deck, looking out at the ocean. The sun’s hot today, so I stay underneath the roof overhang so I don’t get sunburned, because I do burn easily with my Irish white skin. I watch little children make sand castles, some of them occasionally running down to the water with their mothers to play or get more water for their moats.

  
Through the screen door hours later, I can hear the front door creak open, and I get up and go to greet my dad inside. “Hey how was work?” I ask after he sets his briefcase and lunch bag down on the table.

  
“It felt long, after unpacking everything in my office and then teaching half and hour later.” he says, kissing the top of my head. “How was your day? Productive I assume?”

  
“Yeah, I unpacked a lot of things, especially the kitchen. Everything is organized, and you can move things if you want.” I explain.

  
“Thanks honey.You’re, as always, a big help.” he responds. He seems to take a sniff of the air, because he says, “Did you make brownies?”

  
“Oh, no. Our neighbor Wendy brought them over for us. As a housewarming gift. They are amazing. You should try one later.” I gush to him.

  
“Why don’t we have some after lunch. We can go to the pizza place down the street if you want.”

  
“I’m down for that.” I respond happily.

  
“Let me just get changed out of my work clothes and we can be on our way.” my dad says.

  
“I’ll be waiting when you’re ready.” I tell him and he gives me a smile before climbing the staircase to get upstairs. To get ready for lunch I just grab my bag that I had thrown on the kitchen table, and let it hang on my shoulder.

  
I wait by the stairwell for a few moments, before my dad comes down in his most casual wear, a plaid button up, jeans and sneakers. I give him a smile in approval and I follow his lead and head out to the car. I get into the front passenger side as my dad gets into the driver’s side, and the engine starts to roll like a roar of thunder, before we move out of the driveway.

************************************************

An hour and a half later, we drive back from the Italian place across the street, taking a quick pitstop by the hardware and general store for supplies to clean up the house and make it seem a bit more homey. We unload our car and bring all of the bags full of what we bought into the house, and we place them on the kitchen counter.

  
Afterwards, I go up into my room and pick Macbeth off of the shelf, deciding to get a headsart on the reading for class. I’ve already read this play, and was overly ecstatic to see that it was on the syllabus for the one English class that I was taking this term. Sure it doesn’t have the happiest of endings, but hey, what can you expect? I love Shakespeare. I know most of the people in my class would be bored to death, no pun intended, and would rather be partying on one of their last days of summer, but no, not this girl.


	4. Chapter Three

As I am reading, the doorbell sounds from downstairs, and I vaguely hear my dad go answer the person at the door. “Charlie, come downstairs, we have a guest.” I hear him yell a few moments later. 

I place a bookmark in my play, and place it on the left side of my bed before throwing back the comforter and heading downstairs. When I come down the long wooden staircase, I see Wendy and another person, an older boy in a hooded jacket with the hood popped up, and a little girl in a pink dress, in the hallway. “Hey Wendy!” I exclaim on the last step. “And random kids.” I mutter. 

“Nice to see you again Charlie. Charlie, I want to introduce my son to you. I know you two will be in the same graduating class, so it helps to have at least one friend, right?” She pauses, “Ryder, this is the girl that I was talking to you about.”

He give me a nod in acknowledgement and I respond, “Hey.” 

“For God’s sake Ryder, take off your damn hood. Show some respect.” Wendy hisses to her son. 

“Yes mom.” he says with an attitude, obeying her order. He tugs down the hoodie to reveal a familiar auburn head of hair. It was Caroline’s grandson who came by this morning at the diner. 

“Anyway, we wanted to see if you wanted to come to our house as a welcome dinner.” Wendy says. 

My dad looks at me. “I’m down for it if you are.” he says to me. 

“Sure. I think that would be great.” I say to my dad, and then I say to Wendy, “Thanks for the invitation Wendy.” 

“That’s just wonderful!” she says sickeningly happy. “How does 7:30 sound?” I check the clock on the oven in the kitchen, which says 6:30. 

“That sounds fine to me.” I tell her. 

“Sounds good to me.” my dad responds. 

“Terrific! We’ll see you guys in about an hour!” she says happily. “Let go home kids..” 

I step down and open the door for the two of them, getting a wave from the auburn-haired Ryder. Confused, I wave back to him as he turns his back to me. I set my hand down at my side in defeat, and shut the door behind them. I turn around and see my dad had already gone upstairs to get ready, so I do the same. 

*********************************************************

I get out of the shower 20 minutes later and change into a nicer top and jeans, grabbing a black leather jacket to go with it. I braid my wet hair to the side, that way it can dry a bit faster than it normally does. I pick up my jewelry box and go through it before finding the piece of jewelry that I wanted.   
As I am clipping my mother’s locket on, there is a knock that comes from somewhere in my room, which makes me jump and I drop the locket on the floor, my heart beating abnormally fast.. Skeptically, I go to the door and open it, looking out in the hallway to see if my dad knocked on the door. No one was there. “That’s strange.” I mutter to myself as I shut the door. I go and pick up the necklace that I dropped, to find that it’s already on my dresser. 

“What the hell?” I whisper, scared. Another knock echoes through the room, making me jump once more. Feeling like an idiot, I turn around and I ask the room quietly, “Is there anyone there?” A few knocks sound the room, surprising me with an answer. “Alright, you’ve got my attention. Where are you?” I ask.   
The knocks continue, and I move forward and walk around my room until the knocks get louder around the piece of furniture that was hidden by the cloth. The knocks turn into banging, like someone was hitting hard against the glass, trying to get my attention. I turn my body towards it, staring at it perplexed. I reach my arms out to the fabric and pull it down, revealing an old, handmade wooden mirror. The knocking ceased, meaning that I had probably found the source of it. I inspect every inch of the mirror, making sure that nothing was rigged, boobytrapped or broken. I just had to find the source of this noise. 

“Charlie, ready to go?” my dad’s voice asks, breaking me out of my interest in the mirror. 

“Yeah,” I call out, looking at the door, “Just give me a few seconds.” 

Stepping away from the mysterious mirror, I pick up my necklace and put it on quickly, before grabbing my purse, crossing it across my body, and heading downstairs. 

When I get downstairs, my dad is waiting at the front door. His eyes soften when he sees my pendent, and he says, “That was your mother’s.” 

“I found it in her things when she died.” I tell him softly. He gives me a sad smile, before taking me under his arm, pulling open the door. 

***********************************************************  
We cross the street and get to their house in a matter of a few seconds, and I am the one who knocks on the door gently. In seconds, Wendy opens the door clad in her apron and nice dress underneath. “Hi guys, welcome! Come in, come in!” We do as she says and step into the foyer. The foyer is elegant, a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, illuminating the front of the house. I open my mouth in awe, vaguely hearing my dad tell Wendy that her house was beautiful.

“Charlie, you can go hang out with Ryder up in his room while we wait for dinner if you like.” Wendy tells me, pulling me out of my trance. 

“Oh, uh okay.” I say, my tone awkward and cautious. I tread up the stairs and go down the main hallway, deducing that his room was the one with the loud metal music playing. I roll my eyes at the stereotypical thoughts running through my head, before knocking on the door tentatively. 

“What!” he yells over the music. He turns down the music a tad. 

“Your mom wanted me to come up and hang out with you I guess.” I struggle to get over the still obnoxious music. 

He pulls open the door and gives me a dead look. “Can I help you?” 

Caught off guard, I stammer, “You’re mom wanted me to come up and hang out with you, I guess.” 

“Fine, come on in.” He coldly says. 

I walk into the dark room and look around at all of the different posters and pictures on the walls. The only light that could be seen was from the wall, which emitted a low light to make it seem like we were in a dungeon from medieval times. I put my hands in my back pockets awkwardly as I watch Ryder lay back down on his bed, using his phone above his face. Not knowing what to do, I gingerly place my bag on the floor and sit down cross legged. Pulling out the mass-market paperback of Macbeth, I struggle to read in the dark and struggle to focus over the still loud music, and I gain a slight headache. 

“What are you doing?” Ryder asks me, pulling me out of the Shakespearean world. 

“I’m making a cake.” I deadpan. “I’m reading, what does it seem like I’m doing?”

“I know that stupid, I mean why are you doing it here? In my room?” he asks. 

I look up and give him a deadpanned look, “Look Ryder, it’s pretty apparent that you don’t want to talk to me, so I would rather read my book in peace than have you obviously hate me.” I turn my eyes back to the page and read until I have to turn the page. Before I get the chance, the book is snatched out of my grasp by two big hands. 

“There isn’t a need to antisocial about this.” Ryder says to me, the book in his grasp. 

He stands up and holds my book over his head tauntingly. I get up and challenge his height saying, “Give me my damn book back Ryder!”   
“‘Give me my book back Ryder!’” he mimics, his voice an octave higher to imitate my own. “No, I don’t think I will shortie.” He holds the book even higher as I struggle to reach for it. 

“Give. It. Back.” I seethe frustrated. 

“Why? Why should I give the nerd her book back?” he taunts. 

“It was my mother’s version. They don’t sell this one anymore, believe me, I’ve looked everywhere.” I say quietly, giving up the struggle. I sit down sadly on the floor and fiddle with my necklace. 

“Look,I’m-” he starts. 

“Charlie, Ryder, time for dinner.” Wendy’s voice floats above the music. 

“Coming mom!” Ryder yells back. 

I get up from the ground and snatch my book out of his hands and shove it gently in my bag before opening the door, exiting down the stairs to the dining area, leaving Ryder far behind me. 

***************************************************************  
“So Charlie, are you going to the high school in town?” Wendy asks in the middle of dinner. 

“Yes, I am. I just have to go and register tomorrow.” I tell her. 

“How wonderful! Maybe since Ryder isn’t doing anything tomorrow, he can drive you!” she responds happily, but I can tell that Ryder isn’t happy about it at all. 

“Mom! I was going to hang with Tony and Asher tomorrow!” he exclaims. 

At the same time, I say, “It’s alright Wendy, I can just walk.” 

Wendy looks confused at the both of us. “Are you sure? The school is a long walk away.” she says nicely.

“It’s okay, I’ve walked a lot before.” I say smiling, recalling my track days.

“Charlie,” my dad starts, “Maybe it would be good for you to get driven tomorrow.” 

I turn towards my dad, “Are you sure? I mean I barely know how he drives.” 

“It’s good to know that you have confidence in my driving shortie.” Ryder utters sarcastically. I could tell Wendy was getting uncomfortable by her son’s tone, and looks like she wants to speak, but decides to be silent. 

“I’m sure he drives fine honey. Besides, it’s just for one day.” my dad responds. 

“Just this once.” I tell him. I turn to Ryder and say, “I’m leaving in the morning. If you’re not up, I am walking.” 

“Fine, fine.” he says, brushing me off. 

The rest of dinner was silent, besides the scraping of forks and knives against plates, with the occasional mutters to pass the bread or the salt. Wendy didn’t want to start conversation after that, for fear that there was going to be awkwardness again. We leave in silence, not before saying a quick goodbye and showering her in thanks for the food.

As we are crossing the street to our house, my dad says, “Dinner was good.” 

“Yeah, it was actually really good.” I tell him truthfully. 

“So about getting a ride tomorrow…” he trails off. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll be really safe.” I tell him reassuringly. 

“Obviously I want you to be safe, but I was actually going to say that this might actually be a good thing. I know you didn’t have many friends at your old school, so maybe he can be your first friend in a while.” my dad says as he pulls out the keys to the house out of his pockets as we approach the door.   
“Dad, I’ll try this time, I really will. But I won’t try with him. He’s an ass.” I honestly say, and I see my dad cringe at the word I say. “Sorry, he’s a major pain in the butt. Better?” I concede. 

“That’s much better.” my dad says amused. “But I’m serious. I want you to try this time with making friends.” 

“Dad, I will. I promise!” I tell him. 

He’s quiet for a moment as he unlocks the door. We walk into the entryway of the dark house and flip on the lights before he says, “Okay, I believe you.” he pauses. “I’m going to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.” He gives me a kiss on the forehead before heading up the long creaky staircase. 

“Goodnight.” I whisper to the now empty hallway, before hanging up my coat on the coatrack, right before heading up the stairs. When I get into my room and turn on the lights, my body gets goosebump, like someone was watching me again and I turn around and my eyes dart to the mirror that I had uncovered earlier, and for a split second, I think I see in the corner of my eye a figure in the reflection of the glass.   
But when I fully look at the mirror nothing was there.


	5. Chapter Four

I feel an instant pit in my stomach which is universal sign for fear. I feel the incessant pounding of my heart in my ribcage when I put my hand on my chest, the fear creeping up from the darkest pit of my stomach. Taking deep breaths, I try to calm my erratic heart. But I am so scared, that my eyes well up with tears, and I blink them away quickly. In fear, I take the cover of the mirror and place it back on it so that same fear doesn’t happen constantly. 

After I do this, the creepy feeling goes away and I feel calmer again. Once I feel my heartbeat get back to normal, I change into my pajamas and lay in my bed, staring at my phone screen aimlessly, bored. Interrupting the silence, there was a knock on the window besides me, making me jump. Getting up quickly, I pull back the old curtains and look out the window, and in the light of the back porch, a figure stands. 

That figure being Ryder. 

He gestures for me to come down, and I shake my head and yawn. He still gestures for me to do so, so I concede and throw on my slippers before padding down the hall to the stairs quietly. Once I get outside, I cross my arms against my chest and look around for Ryder. “Come on Ryder, where are you?” I whisper into the air.

I wait outside for a few more minutes before I go to turn to the door, placing my hand on the cold door handle. 

“Boo!” A voice yells in a whispered tone, in my ear. In retaliation, I scream, my hands flying back in defense. “Woah, be careful shortie.” the voice says. 

I whip around and scrunch my top lip up in anger. “Well, you shouldn’t have scared me then!” I exclaim, pushing him away from me. I turn to go back inside but his arm stops my wrist. “Let go of me.” I seethe. I rip my arm out of his grip and hold it to my chest. I look away and ask, “What do you want?” 

“I was going to come and apologize for earlier.” he says with his eyes on the ground. 

“Couldn’t you have waited? Until...tomorrow?” I ask furious. 

“Where’s the fun in that?” he asks tauntingly. 

“I’m going inside if you're going to waste my time.” I turn to the door again. “And don’t bother driving me tomorrow. I can walk myself.” I tell him. 

Turning away from him, I open the door and head inside. I trudge my feet up the stairs and get into my room. I shut the door quietly, slide off my slippers and climb underneath the covers of my warm bed. 

**************************************************************  
The next morning, I wake to the sunlight pouring in through old lace curtains. I quickly get up, shower and change before rushing out the door. I walk down the street to the diner first, so that I can get a good breakfast in before my walk. 

I walk in and take a seat at the counter, and Caroline comes to my aid right away. “What can I get you hun?” she asks. I tell her my waffle order before she runs off to place it. She comes back and few minutes later and asks, “So where are you off to this early hun?” 

“I’m going to the high school to register before the semester starts.” I say, as I watch her pour me a cup of coffee. After taking a sip, I ask, “Do you happen to know the quickest way to get there?” 

“I’ve been in this town for a long time Charlie, I know many short cuts.” She stares off in the distance before saying, “I’ll get back to you on that hun.” 

She goes off quickly, and I say to thin air, “Okay, thanks.” 

The bell to the door behind me rings and the sound of angry footsteps feel like they are approaching me. “Your were supposed to wait for me.” Ryder’s voice says angrily. 

“And I thought I told you last night that I was going to walk.” I say to him, turning around to face him. I give him a cold stare before taking a sip of my coffee. 

“Well...we did have a set plan.” he tries to argue. 

“And obviously you and I both know that we didn’t want this plan in the first place.” I retaliate with a knowing smile. 

“Ryder, are you harassing Miss Charlie here?” Caroline asks from the counter behind me.   
“No, Grams-” he starts. 

“Is he bothering you?” she asks me. 

“I mean…” I say teasingly. “No, Caroline. He’s not.” I concede when I see the look on Ryder’s face. 

“Good. Anything I can get you Ryder?” she asks her grandson. 

“No Grams, I’m just here to pick Charlie up.” 

“You two know each other?” she asks. 

“Not really.” I respond at the same time that Ryder responds: 

“Yes.” 

“What I mean is, he was going to drive me to the school this morning, but the plans changed and I decided to walk.” I respond, seeing the confused look on Caroline’s face. 

“Oh, speaking of! I have the directions that you wanted. I’ll just write them down for you before you leave.” she says to me. 

“That’s great Caroline! Thank you!” I gratefully respond. 

“No problem dear.” she says. She gets distracted by someone in the kitchen yelling for her, and moments later comes back to place my waffles down in front of me. “Here you go sweetheart. And you,” she pauses, looking at her grandson with a warning finger, “Stop bothering her.” 

Once she leaves, he sits down on the seat next to me and whispers harshly to me, “How did you get her on your side? I’m normally her favorite!” 

“I guess I’m just a nice person.” I say. Under my breath, I mutter, “Unlike you.” 

“Excuse you, I am nice.” he strikes back. 

“Yeah, sure.” I respond in utter disbelief. He just sticks his tongue out at me as a comeback, and I shake my head disapprovingly before cutting my waffles and eating them, and I could feel his gaze upon me. “What?” I ask, with food still hanging out of my mouth.

He looks away before muttering, “Nothing.” 

“Suit yourself then.” I say, shrugging it off. I continue to eat before I get full, pushing the plate away from me. I guzzle down the rest of my coffee, the hot drink already giving me a slight buzz from drinking it all at once. I set the cup on the plate, before Caroline takes it away, giving me a smile. She comes back a few moments later and places two pieces of paper in front of me: the check and the directions. 

I start to pull you my money, but Ryder’s hand stops mine, placing his cash on the check before I do. I give him a questioning look, and he responds, “What? I think I owe you.” 

I just shrug my shoulders before getting up and slinging my back onto my shoulder blade. “Thanks for the food.” I pause. “Well, I guess probably I’ll see you soon.” I say awkwardly. I quickly grab the directions off of the counter before Ryder could, and rush out the door.

I open the folded directions and start down the street that Caroline specified and continue until I hit Spring Street, making a turn down it before walking down it’s path for an even longer time. I continue following the directions until I reach the high school, which couldn’t be missed since it was so huge. I walk up to the big building and into the lobby of the school, and go straight to the secretary who was right there at the entrance. 

“You look lost dear. How can I help you?” the older women asks. 

“Oh, um, hi.” I stutter. “I’m going to be new in the upcoming semester and I was looking for the place to register.” 

She gives me a look of sympathy before telling me, “You’ll want to go down the hall then, to the left. The main office is right there.” 

“Thank you.” I say to her, before starting down the hall. 

*************************************************************

After I was eventually registered, I take a quick walk around the school to familiarize myself with it. I exit the school the way I came, not before quickly having a small chat with first secretary to help me. After saying my goodbyes, I walk out into the parking lot and start to head home. 

“Where do you think you’re going shortie?” a familiar voice asks me. 

I find Ryder hanging up outside his Camero, an older model by the looks of it; looking like Danny Zuko from Grease, clad in his stereotypical leather jacket. “Home. Where else would I be going?” 

“Well, sorry to break it to you sweetheart, but you’re not walking home.” he responds with a smirk. 

“How else would I get back?” I ask. 

“God, you’re so stupid. I’m giving you a ride home dumbass.” he responds while opening the passenger side door for me to get in. 

“And why would I want to go with you again?” I sass. 

“Because you now owe me for breakfast.” he responds. “Now come on.” 

I think for a moment. “Fine, just because of that.” He smiles viciously at my comment, and I get into the open door. I close it on my own, with a little bit of force from Ryder pushing it closed. He gets into the other side within seconds, starts the engine, and drives away from the school. 

On the ride back, Ryder says, “There are CDs in the glove compartment, feel free to find one you like.” 

I nod, before going through, his taste going from The Beatles to Sum 41 within seconds. Eventually, I find a Sleeping With Sirens album and slide it into the CD drive, picking one of my favorites off of the back, If I’m James Dean, You’re Audrey Hepburn. “This good enough for you?” I ask considerate. 

“One of my favorites actually. How did you know?” 

“It’s one of mine too.” I say softly. “I guess we just have the same music taste. Weird.”

“Yeah, really weird.” he responds in the same tone. 

The ride is full of silence, besides the music lulling in the background. We pull into the neighborhood, and he pulls into his driveway. I open the door by myself, slinging my bag back on, before saying, “Thanks for the ride.” 

I leave before I can hear his response. I go down his shirt driveway and look both ways before crossing the street. I tread up the empty driveway, which meant that my dad wasn’t home, and when I get to the door I am out of breath. Which reminds me that I need to get back in shape for track season (if I ever join this school’s team that is). I take a quick stop in the kitchen for a glass of water and a snack, before heading up into my room. 

I relax in my bed for a little bit, looking up at the 1940s ceiling in boredom and fascination. A noise in my room snaps me out of my trance, and I quickly make sure that it’s not anyone at my window. It wasn’t.


	6. Chapter Five

Over the course of the next week, I get to know my surroundings. I walk all around so that I can see Spring Lake as home someday. After one of my walks, I get up to the driveway and notice an extra car, a Volvo I think, in the driveway. Maybe we have a guest. 

“Charlie?” my dad calls once I get into the house. “Could you come into the kitchen please?” 

“Coming!” I call out as I am slipping off my sneakers. “What’s up?” I ask once I enter the kitchen. 

“I know you probably saw the other car in the driveway.” he starts off. 

“Yeah, do we have a guest?” I ask. 

“No actually, there’s something that I wanted to talk to you about.” 

“Did I do something wrong?” I ask scared. 

“No, it’s actually the opposite. You’ve been through all of these moves without a peep of disrespect. You’ve always have been there to listen to my work stories and worries, and I think it’s time that you have something in return of all of that.” 

“Dad, you didn’t…” I start. 

He hands me the keys and says, “I want you to be able to go places without me taking you. You’re almost nineteen years old, and I trust you with this.” 

“Really?” I ask in disbelief, and he nods. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I exclaim, taking the keys before hugging him tightly. “You’re the best.” 

“My only condition is that you tell me when you’re leaving, and telling me when you will get back.” 

“I will. I promise.” I tell him, pulling away with a smile. 

“Do you want to go take it for a spin?” he asks after a moment. 

“Sure, we can go and explore the town-” I start. 

“I was thinking you could go by yourself. Besides, I have a lot of papers to grade.” my father says. 

“Okay, I’ll let you know when I’m coming back.” I inform him. 

“See you later.” he says, and I excitedly rush right back out the door to my car.

*********************************************************  
I end up in the central business part of town and I park the car in the parking lot of a bookshop. I open the doors to the shop and start to browse the sections, until I find some of the books that I have been wanting to read for a long time. I think I’m there for an hour, browsing the shelves until I’ve seen every book the shop had to offer. I go back to the section and pick up two of my anticipated reads, and bring them to the cashier. 

The lady hands me my bag of books, and I thank her before heading out the door. 

I walk along the main street and look into all of the windows curious. “Blanche, is that you?” a shaky voice asks from behind me. “Blanche wait!” she calls, and I turn around, wondering who she was talking to. The older lady wheels herself over to me, her eyes sparkling with happiness. “Blanche, I thought you were dead.” she says to me, taking my hand in her wrinkly ones. 

“I’m sorry, I’m not Blanche.” I tell her nicely. 

“Have you found your Elias?” she asks, disregarding my question. 

“Who?” I ask confused. 

“Mother! So this is where you’ve gotten off to.” Her daughter rushes up to the lady in the wheelchair. “I’m sorry miss is she was bothering you? It won’t happen again.” she assures me. 

“It’s okay.” I tell her. “She thought that I was a girl named Blanche.” 

“Oh no.” is all she says.

“What?” I ask curious. 

“Her friend Blanche died in a fire in the forties. I think I have a picture of her.” she rummages into her purse until she pulls out an old photograph. She hands it to me and I look at it. “She witnessed her die, and every now and again she thinks that she sees her.”

“That’s horrible.” I say sadly.

The picture shows three teens, who seem to be around my age, two girls and a boy, smiling in front of the camera, and I could tell the older lady was on the left by her eyes, and as I scan mine to the right, and my eyes widen. The girl on the other side of the boy was, or looked like, me. And the boy had familiar eyes, like I have just seen them recently. 

“Now that I think about it, she looks a little like you. Distant relative?” the lady observes. 

“I have no idea.” I say, voice shaky. “Thank you for letting me have a look.” I tell her, before shoving the picture in her hands and leaving, creeped out. 

*********************************************************  
To say I was spooked was to say the least. The rest of the afternoon I wandered around the town, and I couldn’t get my mind off of the photograph. I found my car after a few hours of thinking and texted my dad that I was coming home. I need to know what was going on. 

After driving ten minutes, I pull into the driveway and park. I run straight inside and down the hall to my dad’s study. I knock and hear a soft, “Come in,” and open the study. My dad was surrounded by papers galore and when he sees me, he asks, “How was it?” 

“It was awesome.” I tell him. 

He takes a look at me before saying, “You look like you want to ask me something.” 

“Yeah, actually. Did we happen to have anyone by the name of Blanche in the family die in the nineteen forties?” 

His eyes widen, and then respond cautiously, “No, why?” 

“Nothing, I just thought I saw a picture of her or something. Thanks.” I say to him before leaving the room, shutting the door on my way out. 

One things for sure, my dad isn’t telling me the full story, and one of these days I’ll find out the truth.


	7. Chapter Six

Two weeks pass and the sounds throughout my room continue, and it’s been two weeks since I’ve met Wendy and her family, plus some other neighbors. 

And it’s the start of my senior year of school. In total technicality, I would be a freshman in college, but I was held back a year in school when I was younger. It’s wasn’t my fault, really. I was just going through a tough time, that was the year my mother had died, and the school and dad thought it was best if a third grader such as myself skipped a year, for the sake of my mental health. 

I wake myself up and get dressed in the outfit I set out last night, a cardigan, tank top and jeans, before bounding down the stairs to eat a hearty breakfast. I walk into the kitchen to find my dad clad in his old grilling apron, in front of the stove. 

“Good morning!” I say to him, hugging his torso before kissing his cheek. 

“Well it looks like someone’s excited.” he responds, turning to face me with a smile. “And I made your favorite!” 

“You haven’t made smile pancakes since I was eleven. What’s the special occasion?” I ask him. 

“My daughter is entering her senior year. I feel like that qualifies.” he says with a goofy smile. 

“Your such a sentimentalist, I swear.” I tease, rolling my eyes. 

“Just go sit down. If you don’t you won’t get food.” he says, gesturing the island, where we had black chairs that we bought a few weeks ago. I go over there and sit on one, and it turns me around with little force. 

A few moments later, my dad brings over a plate with pancakes drowned in syrup, but the syrup is in the shape of a smile, as you can probably guess. Looking at the pancakes sparks a smile on my face, and I smile as I cut into the goodness of the fried batter. I swear, my dad makes the best pancakes. That’s just me being biased though. 

My watch beeps with an alarm that I set for me to leave for school, so I gulp down my milk and throw my backpack on. “Gotta go. Love you.” I say, rushing around the island to hug my dad. 

I go back around towards the door, before he says, “You’re going to need these then.” 

He throws me something, and when I catch them, I see that they are the keys to . “Don’t you want to take my car to work?’” I ask in surprise. 

“I decided to stay home and do some work around the house. Now go before you’re late for your first day. Love you.” 

“You’re the best. Thank you!” I say, hugging him once more before heading out to the driveway and getting in my car to start it. 

I follow the same directions that Caroline gave me a few weeks ago, and I get to the school quicker than I would walking. I go straight to the welcoming receptionist Maggie, and she hands me my schedule with a smile. “Thanks Maggie.” I tell her. 

“No problem dear. Your homeroom is down the hall to the left. I hope you have a nice first day.” 

“Thank you so much.” I praise her. I take her directions and end up at the room homeroom was being held. I peek around the doorframe and find that the only person in the room is the teacher, Mr.Schuller, who is an older man, possibly in his late 60s. 

“Good morning!” he says brightly. “Name please?” he asks. 

“Hi.” I pause. “My name is Charlie, more formally Charlotte Mathers.” 

He goes down his attendance list before stopping his pointer finger at m name. “Ah, Miss Mathers. Welcome to Pythonissam High! Feel free to take any seat you like since you are the first to arrive.” he says warmly. 

“Thank you.” I tell him graciously. I turn my head and get the lay of the land, before deciding upon a seat not far off from the middle of the classroom. Mr. Schuller gives me a smile as other students start to file in. 

I look down at my schedule and see that I have Physics next, and then British Literature after. What distracts me next is a big group of people coming in, and at no surprise I can guess that Ryder is indeed in the center of all of them. His eyes connect with mine for a split second, before giving me a sneer. I scoff quietly, before looking down again at my schedule, pretending to be distracted. 

The speaker above me crackles to life, and a monotone voice spews out the announcements for the day. In the front of the class, Mr. Schuller is looking on his attendance sheet and making a head count, raking his eyes up and down the aisles of desks at each student. When he reaches mine, he gives me a short curt nod before continuing on with the other students. 

After the announcements are over, the bell rings, and everyone else gets up from their seats and exits the room, presumably going to their first class of the day. I get up and grab my backpack and place it on my back, and start toward the door. 

*********************************************************************  
The first half of the school day passes by without a glitch, and I make my way to the lunchroom where I can find something to eat that is somewhat edible, not that I am resulting to the stereotypes that are high school. 

After standing in the longest line of my life I finally get to buy food, which the only options were burgers or a salad, so I went with the latter and a typical carton of milk, and pay. I find a table in the back corner of the room that is unoccupied, and I set my tray down and get myself situated, putting in a set of headphones, and putting my playlist on shuffle. 

“Hi!” An over excited voice yells in my ear, which I can surprisingly hear through my music. “Charlotte, right? We are in the same Physics class.” the short brown-haired girl says to me. 

Taking out my earphones, I tell her, “Actually I prefer Charlie.” 

“Oh.” she says as if she is disappointed in my nickname. “Anyway, I was wondering if you would like to sit with me at my table? My name’s Christine by the way.” 

I take a look at the table she’s talking about, which basically was all of the field hockey girls for the school’s team. They all looked pretty stuck up to me, but don’t tell Christine that. I pretend to think for a moment, before saying to her, “Thanks for the offer, but I think I am okay here, alone.”

“Oh, okay.” she says in a disappointed tone. “Bye then.” 

She leaves before I could get a word in and I put my earphones back in. I take a bite out of my salad bowl, before a boy and a girl seat themselves at my table uninvited. “So Christine wanted to talk to you?” the girl asks as I take out my earphones. 

“Hi to you too.” I say sarcastically. Both of them were looking at me expectantly and I continue. “She wanted me to sit with her and her friends, but I wanted to stay where I was because I wasn’t comfortable with sitting with her.” 

“It’s good that you stayed. They are all backstabbing bitches anyway.” the boy says. 

“Henry! Language!” the girl exclaims to the boy.

“What? I’m just telling her as it is.” he defends himself. 

“Sorry about him. He’s a real pain in my ass.” she tells me. 

“It’s okay.” I pause for a moment. “So I get he’s Henry,” I say point to him, “So who are you?” 

“My last name’s O’Conner by the way.” Henry speaks up. 

“Sorry, Henry O’Conner.” I correct myself

“I forgot my manners.” she says sarcastically. “My I’m Elyse Bradbush.”

“Charlie Mathers.” I tell them both.

“Are you in any way, shape or form related to Eminem?” Henry asks jokingly. 

“Henry!” Elyse hisses. 

“It’s totally fine. And to answer your question, no. Totally different line of Mathers I’m afraid. I don't have a drop of rapping blood in my body.” 

This gains the response of laughter between Elyse and Henry. “I like you Charlie.” Elyse says to me.

Confused, I say, “Thanks I guess.” 

“Do you mind if we stay here for the rest of lunch?” Elyse asks. 

“No not at all.” I respond, moving my backpack out of the way. 

The whole rest of the lunch, I told the two of them very little about my life before I came here, and they told me all about theirs. Elyse and Henry are both theatre kids, and that’s basically the story of how they met. They tell me that they’ve been friends for what seems like forever, and when they tell me this, I feel a sense of familiarly, but I can’t place where it’s coming from. 

I guess senior year won’t be that bad with these two as my friends. Or at least I hope they are my friends.


	8. Chapter Seven

After lunch, Elyse and go to our World History class with Ms. Lynn, who seemed the youngest out of all of the teachers that I’ve had so far. Elyse and I sit next to each other, when we get there, and as the rest of the students come in, a familiar person comes into the classroom.   
Ryder. 

I guess that Elyse notices that I am staring at him, because she says, “You know Ryder?” 

“He’s my neighbor. Do you know him well?” I respond to her. 

“I mean I should. He is, unfortunately, my arrogant cousin.” she responds unfazed, and my eyes open in surprise. 

“But...how? He’s infuriating and you're actually nice!” I exclaim to her. 

“Thanks, but his mom is my aunt, and the rest of it is history.” she explains passively. 

“Alright everyone, settle down.” Ms. Lynn says to the class, raising her voice over everyone’s noise. 

“I’ll tell you the rest later.” she tells me and I nod. 

Ms. Lynn goes straight into her first lesson of the year on Native Civilizations and the hunter-gatherers. Most of the information she was teaching seemed very familiar, because some of it we were taught in middle school, but my intuition was beyond that. It was like I was having a deja-vu moment, but it was weird because I had never heard things like what Ms. Lynn was explaining. 

As the bell rings signaling that the hour and fifteen minute class was over for the day, Ms. Lynn warns us, “Don’t forget to read chapters one through three for next class. Have a nice day everyone!” 

I give her a wave on my way out, and I follow Elyse to her locker so she can grab what she needs for her final class of the day. As she pulls out a folder and notebook for her art class, a voice calls out from down the hallway, “Hey little cous!” 

“How many time do I have to remind you, I am only a few days younger than you!” Elyse seethes to a now approaching Ryder. 

“Therefore making you the baby.” he responded sassily. 

“That would be Laura dumbass.” Elyse responds with a smirk. 

“Laura?” I ask, jumping into their family drama. 

The both respond at the same time: 

“His sister.” Elyse plainly responds.

“My kid sister.” Ryder responds with a roll of his eyes. 

“Oh, the little girl who was at your house when I came over for dinner!.” I say, accepting the information. The bell sounds above us, giving us a warning sign that class will start soon. “I have to go find my class. I’ll see you,” I pause, pointing at Elyse, “Later.” 

“How about I walk you to your next class.” Ryder suggests. 

“I think I’ve got it. Thanks.” I respond politely declining. 

“No, really. You might get lost.” he persists. 

“Honestly, I’ve got it Ryder. Now I really have to go.” I respond annoyed. “I’ll see you later Elyse.” 

“You’re telling me what that was about later.” she whispers to me. 

“Uh, okay.” I tell her before rushing off. 

*************************************************************  
At the end of the day, I find Elyse in the parking lot with Henry, both of them going to their car. 

“So what was that about?” she asks me when she sees me. 

“What was what about?” Henry asks confused, since he is out of the loop. 

“Honestly, I have no idea. It seemed very out of character for him.” I respond to her question with a shrug. 

“Out of character for who?” Henry, now frustrated with us, asks.

 

“Sorry H. It’s my stupid cousin.” she responds to him. 

“What did he do now?” he asks assumingely.

“Nothing bad...yet. He just acting weird around Charlie over here.” She jabs her finger in my direction. 

“Like I asked, what did he do?” he persists. 

“He asked to walk me to class.” I speak up. “When I barely know the guy.”

“You know what I think?” Henry asks. 

“Oh yes, Great and Powerful Henry, tell us one of your great predictions.” Elyse teases with a smirk. 

“I’m serious El.” he says and Elyse looks at him annoyed.

“I mean I’d like to know what you think.” I say, turning to him, shrugging my shoulders.

I watch as Henry’s head follows something behind me, and I turn to look to, but his voice stops me. “I can tell you later, when we are not in a public place.” 

I tilt my head confused, but say anyway, “Alright then.” I check the time on my phone, and say to the two of them, “I have to get going. I’ll see you guys tomorrow then?”

They both give me a nod, and I walk away, sending a wave their way. Once I get to my car, I start it and head towards home. 

*********************************************  
When I get home, I drop my backpack up in my room and pick up my beach bag, and head out the back door. I place down a towel halfway down the beach, away from the water and the hustle and bustle of the boardwalk behind me, and sit down on it, pulling out my headphones and IPod. I’ve discovered that since moving here, I can find solace in just putting on my headphones and closing my eyes. It’s how I get through my hardest times sometimes, even if I haven’t experienced any here yet. 

As I am unwinding from my day, a dark shadow blocks the sun from my closed eyelids. I open my eyes and sit back on my elbows, which is pretty uncomfortable by the way, and come face to leg with someone in small shoes, and as I crane my neck up, it’s the same little girl with long brown hair, holding a bucket that was at the Hart’s welcome dinner. 

Oh god, she must be lost. “Hi sweetie, are you lost?” I ask sitting up to kneel at her level. 

“I’m here with my big brother!” she says smiling proudly. 

“Is your big brother near here?” I ask her gently. 

“He was here.” she says, looking around. “I don’t know where he is!” she says, tears brimming her eyes. 

“It’s okay sweetie, you can stay with me until he comes.” I tell her, patting on my towel for her to sit next to m and she sits down with tears streaming down her face. I pull out a pack of tissues, I like to be prepared, and take one out and brush her tears away with it. “He’ll find you, I know he will sweetie.” I tell her. 

Eventually, she starts to warm up to me and a few minutes later, she asks, “Can you help me build a sandcastle? My big brother was supposed to help me but…” she trails off, sniffling.

“Of course I’ll help you!” my inner child says, as it comes out to play. I stand up, take her bucket, and hold out my hand for her to take. Her small hand grasps mine softly and I lead her down to the better part of the grainy beach so that she can build her castle. We fill the bucket with sand together, packing it tight before flipping it on the ground, the form being perfect. We do this a few more times before it’s a lengthy looking castle and we build a shallow moat with our hands, filling it with water from the ocean with the bucket. “What’s your name?” I ask her.

The little girl looks at me with a bright, joyful smile, “My name’s Laura and I’m six!” I give her an equal smile back before taking her hand and bring back to my bag and towel. I let her go through my bag to find anything fun to do, as I gaze out at the sea and the sky. 

“Laura!” a voice in the distance calls out. The little girl next to me stops her scavenging through my bag and perks up. “Laura!” 

Her head goes to the place where it’s coming from and mine follows, to see a figure running down the beach. 

“Ry!” she yells, and jumps up before running towards the figure and I get up and run after her. 

“Laura! I thought I told you to stay close.” Ryder’s voice scolds the little girl once she’s in his arms.

“I know but I was too excited for my sandcastle!” she exclaims. “I wanna show you the sandcastle the nice lady and I made!” 

His eyes finally go to mine and instantly smirks. “When will I ever catch a break from you.” I mutter.

“Charlie.” he says neutrally. 

“Ryder.” I say in an equal tone. 

“Why is your name a boy’s name?” Laura asks me. 

“Laura, be nice.” Ryder scolds. 

“Ryder, it’s fine. I get it all of the time.” I pause. I crouch down to her level and explain slowly, “My full name’s Charlotte sweetie. I just like to be called Charlie since it’s easier for everyone.” 

“Oh! Just like I call Ry, Ry, even though his name is Ryder!” her child’s mind concludes. 

“You’re right. High five!” I tell her, holding my hand up for her to high five. She gives me one that is softer than I am used to with a teenage high five. 

“Come on Ry, I wanna show you the sandcastle!” Laura squeals. 

“Yeah Ry, let’s go see the sandcastle.” I tease. 

“Shut up.” he whispers. 

His sister tugs on the sleeve of his shirt, and pulls him away from me, and I watch as she brings him over to our masterpiece. I smile at Laura’s adorableness, and put my hands in the back pocket of my jeans, and walk back over to where my towel lies and decide to clean up shop. As I am rolling up the towel, I hear the soft sound of footsteps approaching me in the sand. I turn around and see Ryder holding his little sister’s hand. 

“Laura, what do you say to the nice lady?” he asks. 

“Thank you Charlie for playing with me today! Can we have another play date soon?” 

I look at Ryder and he gives me a nod. I kneel down to her size and say, “If it’s okay with your mom and brother then I would be happy to.” 

“Can she Ry, please?” she pleads. 

“We’ll see.” he complies, looking from his sister to me. 

“Yay!” she rejoices, giving me a tight squeeze. They both start down the beach and she calls out to me.“Bye Charlie!” 

“Bye sweetie!” I say to her, giving a small wave. 

“See you at school Charlie.” Ryder calls with a wave. 

“See you.” I say not as loud. I pick up my bag off of the ground and throw it over my shoulder, before I head up the sand dune and to the back door of my house. 

************************************************************  
“Looks like someone had fun this afternoon.” my dad’s voice greets me as I close the sliding door.

“Yeah, I guess.” I shrug off. 

“Was that Wendy’s boy? Ryder?” he asks. 

“Yeah, and her daughter Laura too.”

“The little girl that was a dinner? That’s her daugter? She has a daughter too? That didn’t know.” he observes. 

“I just met her myself.” I tell him. There’s some silence before I say, “I better start on some of the homework that I was assigned today.” I make him aware.

“I’ll see you in a few hours for dinner then?” he asks. 

“Sure, I’ll make it this time. Lasagna good for you?” he nods, and I give him a hug before going upstairs and starting my history reading.


End file.
